Employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey — the
body that operates LaGuardia and other major transportation hubs
across the region — unsuccessfully asked that Martin Luther King
Day be treated as a paid holiday, not unlike many other
government-affiliated agencies. When their requests were ignored,
they planned Monday’s march in response in order to raise
awareness of their employer’s practices and to have a platform to
protest for better wages.

One of those on the scene, Jenna Pope, tweeted that hundreds of
people had marched to the bridge outside of LaGuardia and then
sat down in the street in defiance of the police’s orders to not
hinder road traffic.

Others on the bridge reported that airport employees were among
those being arrested during the peaceful protest. Hector Figuero,
the president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, the
largest property services union in the country, was among those
reportedly detained Monday afternoon, as was a United States
congressman, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York).

JFK Airport security officer and Port Authority employee Prince
Jackson told Amsterdam News during a workers’ rights rally
earlier this month that Dr. King demonstrated in his lifetime to
assist Americans that made even more detestable wages that what
he’s accustomed to today.

“Dr. King died supporting sanitation workers who were working
under deplorable conditions and making what today would be $11.41
per hour,” he told the paper. “Forty-six years after Dr. King’s
death, I earn $8 an hour. Most airport workers earn just $8 per
hour. We also work under deplorable conditions.”

Meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently announced the
state will oversee a $3.6 billion construction project to
renovate LaGuardia Airport. Those who maintain the facility,
however, don’t expect to see much of that.